The commission's June report to Congress includes illustrative policies about defining and supporting Medicare safety net providers and aligning payments across outpatient settings, among other topics of interest to essential hospitals.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will begin reprocessing outpatient claims to excepted off-campus provider-based departments at the lower site neutral payment rate it established in the calendar year 2019 Outpatient Prospective Payment System final rule.

The Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System final rule for calendar year 2021 continues cuts to hospitals in the 340B Drug Pricing Program and off-campus provider-based departments, and updates the overall hospital star ratings methodology.

A new proposed rule would extend the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model by three years and add outpatient knee and hip replacement to the definition of a CJR episode. Comments are due to CMS by April 24.

Health care providers have until Dec. 3 to download their preview reports, which include overall hospital quality star ratings.

The president's fiscal year 2020 budget plan calls on Congress to significantly reform the two programs, including ending Medicaid expansion and changing Medicare uncompensated care payments.

The rule includes additional cuts to new off-campus, provider-based departments (PBDs), as well as physician payment and quality program changes.

The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule for calendar year 2018 includes physician payment and quality program changes.

The FAQs outline how hospitals should complete the form's free-text field and clarify that the form must be issued to Medicare Advantage enrollees.

Hospitals will be required to provide the form and accompanying instructions to applicable Medicare patients starting March 8.

The new guidance outlines how and when hospitals must deliver the notice, retention requirements, and how the notices intersect with state laws.

New guidance describes how off-campus hospital provider-based departments can maintain their grandfathered status when relocating due to extraordinary circumstances.

All hospitals and critical access hospitals will be required to provide the MOON to applicable patients beginning March 8, 2017.

Congress plans to vote on a continuing resolution to keep the government running past Dec. 9. The Senate is expected to pass 21st Century Cures legislation.

Under the rule, CMS would increase the OPPS payment rate by 1.65 percent and provide flexibility in the meaningful use of EHRs, among other things.

CMS provides more flexibility than previously proposed, ensuring non-grandfathered, off-campus hospital outpatient departments will be reimbursed in 2017.

America's Essential Hospitals denounces the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services decision to limit flexibility and withhold hospital payments for new, off-campus hospital outpatient departments.

In letter to CMS, association raises issues of payment, definition of off-campus outpatient department of a provider, and 340B eligibility.

Association responds to House lawmakers' request for comment on Medicare's new payment policy for off-campus hospital outpatient departments. Congress works on FY 2017 budget, holds hearings on Zika virus and opiod abuse.

The new FAQ clarify that site neutral law won't impact PO modifier requirements. PO modifiers must be included on claims as of Jan. 1 for all services and items furnished in off-campus, provider-based departments.

House and Senate lawmakers negotiate omnibus appropriations bill and two-year extension of tax cuts, but fail to provide relief on new Medicare site-neutral payment policy for hospital outpatient departments.

NOTICE Act seeks to educate patients about impact of observation status, including on cost-sharing and skilled nursing facility eligibility.

Annual release includes 2013 data related to the 100 most common diagnoses for Medicare patients requiring inpatient stays and 30 selected outpatient procedures.

Preliminary testing to include random, representative sample of 50 hospital outpatient departments, 50 ambulatory surgery centers

Topics of member interest include payment updates, the OQR Program, and the MSSP.

The rules, released Oct. 31, finalized a number of provisions regarding payments, data collection in outpatient departments, quality programs, and the MSSP.

The association urged CMS to revise its C-APC proposal and opposed its proposal to add a claims-based modifier for every outpatient service provided in off-campus provider-based departments.

The agency proposes to increase payment rates by an outpatient department fee schedule increase factor of 2.1 percent for CY 2015. CMS also proposes to collect data on services provided in off-campus provider-based departments by requiring hospitals and physicians to identify these services using a modifier on hospital and physician claims.

CMS released the rule July 3. The agency proposes to increase payment rates by an outpatient department fee schedule increase factor of 2.1 percent for CY 2015. In addition, CMS proposes to collect data on services provided in off-campus provider-based departments by requiring hospitals and physicians to identify these services using a modifier on hospital and physician claims.

The Ways and Means Committee reviewed hospital issues as part of the Medicare Program. Two Louisiana delegates urged CMS to accept nonprofit-provided premium assistance. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing featuring Secretary Shinseki.

The measure, OP-31/ASC-11, is part of the ASC Quality Reporting Program and the OQR Program. Data collection, which was scheduled to begin April 1, will now begin Jan. 1, 2015. America's Essential Hospitals successfully encouraged CMS to delay the measure, arguing the measure was not properly tested for the ASC and outpatient settings.

CMS seeks input on models for specific procedures and complex care. These new payment and service delivery models would apply to specialty practitioner services provided in an outpatient setting.

Inpatient population and sampling data for chart-abstracted quality measures for the third quarter of 2013 (discharges from July 1 through Sept. 30, 2013) will be due Feb. 8 for the IQR Program. Outpatient population and sampling data and outpatient chart-abstracted measures will be due Feb. 8 for the OQR Program.

The rule replaces outpatient visit codes with a single code describing all clinic visits

Rule finalizes several Outpatient Prospective Payment System provisions

Cuts to evaluation and management payments would disproportionately hurt safety net hospitals

Clarifies the Outpatient Clinic and Hospital Facility Services definition, Upper Payment Limit.

The final rule was delayed due to the partial government shutdown

Agency seeks to understand type and frequency of, and payment for, services furnished in off-campus outpatient departments